India still feeling their way to best World Cup combination

On Friday, Australia and England played in an ODI in Sydney. The qualifying matches for Australian Open were in full swing at the tennis centre close to the MCG in Melbourne. The big screen at the sports precinct, near Federation Square, showed tennis from Kooyong. At the MCG, quietly, away from all the attention, India had their first nets session in what is now officially the lead-up to the World Cup.

India have got a new training kit, a blue almost identical to the Rod Laver Arena surfaces. They are trying more things in the nets, more specific training than just reacting to the ball as in the lead up to the Tests. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is trying to hit the base of a pair of shoes left on the crease, MS Dhoni goes through a session where he wants to hit everything - no matter what the length - over cover. There is a new verve, some new energy, more focus but less order after close to a week off after the Tests, but the problems with the team are old.

When India selected their squad for the last World Cup, only one slot was a matter of debate: an extra batsman in Rohit Sharma or an extra spinner in Piyush Chawla. Dhoni had what he wanted: a settled team. He wanted his side to have already gone through various close situations that arise during ODIs before they arose in the World Cup. He wanted his players to have played around 70 matches at least before they went into the World Cup. He led the ODI side from 2008 to 2011, and made sure he built just the team he wanted. Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Chawla and Yusuf Pathan might not have played that critical mass of 70 matches back then, but they were pretty certain of their roles in the side. That can't be said of the side that has assembled in Australia.

The team selected for 2015 doesn't have that feeling of calm around it. Akshar Patel is an absolute newcomer. Dhoni didn't trust Ambati Rayudu enough to get a single in the closing stages of a Twenty20 match in England not long ago. Rayudu is not quite what Suresh Raina was in 2011, the reserve batsman who could slide into the team seamlessly should a first-choice player lose form. A bigger issue is, before leaving for Australia India hadn't even decided on their opening combination.

The biggest issue, though, is how weak and inexperienced the pace bowling looks. India have not been able to manage any continuity from 2011 in terms of fast bowling. Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel disintegrated fast after the event. Praveen Kumar, who could have been India's big hope in ODIs after that World Cup, is nowhere on the scene. Others just haven't been good enough to cement a place in the side for long enough to get into that experienced bracket. As a result, Ishant Sharma, whom India had earlier preferred to keep aside for Tests and who has had quite an ordinary ODI career, is part of the attack, and it can't even be argued that there is a better option available.

The World Cup is effectively a three-match tournament (the knockouts, after a relatively relaxed group stage), which is why India can never be ruled out under the ODI astuteness of Dhoni, but it is fair to say the side is not as fine-tuned as Dhoni would have wanted it to be. There has been some experimentation since the start of the Champions Trophy in 2013. Some of it has been forced by injuries. India went to South Africa with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma as their main ODI seamers, but it took them one game to realise Ishant was going to be required in conditions that ask the bowlers to put in much more behind the ball. Shikhar Dhawan has had two different opening partners, who have both had varying degrees of success. Dhawan himself was dropped once in New Zealand.

This tri-series, four matches at the least and five if India make the final, will give India that chance to finally go over their options. They like to keep their cards close to their chests, so it will be a matter of big interest who walks out to open the innings on Sunday: Ajinkya Rahane who was consistent in England or Rohit Sharma who struggled in New Zealand but scored a double-century in India? Akshar will get chances, for he seems to be a back-up for Ravindra Jadeja, who is with the squad but is not likely to play in the triangular because of a shoulder impingement.

India haven't left themselves too many choices with seam bowlers in the World Cup: surprisingly they have picked only four, and three will play in almost every match. It won't be as much about the personnel in the seam department as it will be about the strategy and the form they can hit. Mohit and Dhawal Kulkarni are in the reserves for the triangular, but they are not supposed to be here for the World Cup. It is possible that should Jadeja not make it to the Cup, India might go in for a quick replacement because there will be two spinners playing here already. In that light, it becomes interesting as to how much India use Mohit in the triangular.

Normally this wouldn't be time - so close to the World Cup - for such fun and games, but India can be thankful they have this triangular to sort - or try to sort - some issues out in similar conditions as they will encounter in the World Cup. Provided they don't get exhausted by the time the real thing starts.